Whose Side Are You On?

Passage: Jeremiah 49

The bulk of Jeremiah’s prophecy focuses on the ways God intends to judge his people. The instrument of God’s judgment, it turns out, will be the Babylonian Empire. The assumption Jeremiah’s audience members, and we the readers, are tempted to make is that God is effectively switching sides. God’s been on the side of Israel and Judah all this time. Now he’s done with them, and Babylon is his new favorite. What other conclusion is there to draw here? The success that should have been Israel’s has been handed to Babylon, even as the Israelites have been handed over as slaves to the new superpower. God’s on their side now.
Not so fast. In Jeremiah 49 God lashes out not against Israel and Judah but against…Babylon? God says,
So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill…Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance…
God goes on to say that Israel will be forgiven and Judah restored, while Babylon is punished for treating God’s chosen people so deplorably.
What?

Here’s what’s going on. God committed to his people that if they rejected him, they would face the consequences. Those consequences take the form of the Babylonian invasion. But even though they have become instrumental in God’s plan, the Babylonians are not innocent. The mechanisms they use to mete out God’s judgment are, themselves, cruel and corrupt. No doer of violence; no merciless oppressor will go unpunished, either. The Babylonians will also be held accountable for the abominations they’ve committed.

The paradox of God’s action in the world is that his hand is always at work in the lives of his people – even in the bad things that happen to us. However, God is not the source of the bad things. The Belgic Confession puts it like this:
We believe that this good God, after he created all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to his holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without his orderly arrangement. Yet God is not the author of, nor can he be charged with, the sin that occurs. For his power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible that he arranges and does his work very well and justly even when the devils and wicked men act unjustly. (Belgic Confession, Art. 13a)

The thought of a good God willing painful – even tragic – circumstances on the people he loves is unsettling. Those who call ourselves God’s people, however, believe that God uses all circumstances to shape our lives and guide us toward our ultimate destination: salvation and eternal life. This still raises the question about those people at whose hands God’s children suffer. The answer is simple: all people will be held accountable for their sins before God – even those sins God has co-opted for his purposes. When someone else has hurt you, the question is not, “How could God let this happen?” but, “How will God use this for good in my life?” The fact that God can use someone else’s hurtful act for a good purpose does not condone that act. Our comfort in the face of such an experience is knowing that God still calls to account those whose evil acts have hurt us.

A Seared Conscience

Passage: 1 Timothy 4:1-16

This is a passage I’ve always read one way, but recently saw through different eyes. In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul refers to people who have “seared their consciences as with a hot iron.” To this point I’ve assumed Paul’s referring to people whose repeated immorality has deadened their consciences and sense of shame, such that they no longer feel it when they’re sinning. Generally I’ve pictured the kinds of sensational and salacious sins that we church people whisper about in our congregations and rail against in our culture. However, a closer examination reveals that Paul’s talking about a different set of preoccupations. The people to whom Paul refers are people whose misguided religious practices have seared their consciences, deadening their senses to the true Word and Spirit of God. Paul warns Timothy and his church to watch out for people whose religion has been informed by superstition, folklore, legalism, and extrabiblical teaching. Paul invites his church to live out the freedom of the Gospel – freedom to fully enjoy the gifts and experiences God has given. Freedom to approach God through the blood of Jesus rather than through the rigors of an elaborate system of rules and prohibitions. A seared conscience, according to Paul, is not a conscience that doesn’t know right from wrong. It’s a conscience that is dead to the Spirit of God. The way to ward off the influence of such people is simple: hear the Gospel; embrace the Savior; know the Scriptures. Let your conscience be revived by the Spirit.

A Covenant with the Day and the Night

Passage: Jeremiah 33:14-28

In Jeremiah 33 God makes an unbelievable promise to Jeremiah. God says, “A day will come when a descendant of David will rule this land with justice and righteousness. And in that day the Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will be secure.” Jeremiah isn’t buying it. He says, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my neighbors are saying, ‘God’s rejected both his kingdoms – Israel and Judah.’ We’ve become a laughingstock to the world because it’s obvious, God, that you’ve rejected your people.”

God’s response is remarkable. He says to Jeremiah, “If you can break my covenant with the day and the night, then I’ll break the covenants I made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I’ll break the covenant I made to David.” In other words, God says, “I’m not just paying lip service to something I said in the past. I have made commitments that no force in heaven or on earth can undo.” The commitments? To Abraham, Isaac and Jacob God said, “I’ll make your descendants more numerous than the stars of the sky. And I will one day bless the nations of the world through you.” To David God said, “A descendant of David will always reign.” These promises sound like hyperbole. Like, at the very least, gross exaggeration. In his conversation with Jeremiah God says, “I wasn’t just making that stuff up. I gave my word – a word that I can undo no more easily than you can reroute the courses of the planets and stars.”

Does God keep his promises? Through the descendants of Abraham God brings the Savior of the world. And through David’s lineage God brings not just the king of the Jews, but the Lord of all Creation. No force in Heaven or on Earth can undo that which God covenants to do.

A Fresh Start

Passage: Jeremiah 31:27-34

Jeremiah speaks to a people who have painted themselves into a corner. They are in a relationship whose conditions they’ve violated too many times to be able to undo the damage. God has told his people that if they live by his rules, everything will go well for them. The converse is true, as well: that if they abandon God and his rules, he’ll abandon them to the arbitrary whim of a merciless world. God has also told his people that their relationship with him is collective. They live out the rigors of God’s Law in community, instructing and encouraging each other to keep the faith. God corrects and punishes his people as a community when they fail to hold individual members accountable. God tells parents that their children and even grandchildren will suffer the consequences of their unfaithfulness.

Jeremiah intervenes at a time when God’s people are on the brink of experiencing everything God warned them about. As a nation they are about to find out how hard life without God can be. Jeremiah’s prophecies focus repeatedly on the coming judgment. But interspersed are promises that better times are ahead. In Jeremiah 31 God talks about a new relationship with new terms. God says, “A day will come in which children won’t suffer for their parents’ sins. They’ll be held accountable only for themselves.” God says, “A day will come when I don’t need to send prophets and preachers and teachers because my word will dwell in each of your hearts. I will forgive your wickedness and remember your sins no more. I will be your God and you will be my people.”

To Jeremiah and his people, this sounds impossible. It sounds too good to be true. They’ve gotten used to the idea that God’s forgiveness is unattainable. That even if they repent and change their ways, the heap of their parents’ and grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ sin is insurmountable. In this prophecy God gives them a glimpse of a new way. A clean slate. The fresh start that you and I know in the person of Jesus Christ. The thing Jeremiah and the children of Israel long for so desperately – the thing we can’t live without – is a thing none of us can secure for ourselves. God offers it freely to those who long once and for all to be called his people. A fresh start.

No One Expects the Fire

Passage: Jeremiah 21:1-10

On September 29 Gene Cranick watched firefighters stand by and let his house burn to the ground. Cranick, and his fellow residents of Obion County, Tennessee, are required to pay a $75.00 annual fee if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. Year after year Cranick has refused to pay. When his home caught fire, he called 911. Firefighters showed up, but only to prevent his fire from spreading to his neighbor’s property – his neighbor who faithfully paid the annual fee. As his house burned, Cranick offered to pay the firefighters anything to get them to extinguish the blaze. “Sorry,” they said, “just following orders.” On one hand their behavior sounds cruel. On the other, Cranick knew the rules ahead of time. He gambled. And lost.

King Zedekiah knew the rules ahead of time. He’d heard it from Jeremiah. His father and grandfather had heard it from Isaiah. “Repent,” the prophets said. “Return to God and his rules, and God will intervene when trouble befalls you. Return to God and he will provide for you and your people. Reject God, and he will stand by and let you suffer the consequences.” Like his predecessors, Zedekiah has chosen to disregard the rules.

Lo and behold, Jeremiah gets a panicked call from Zedekiah. “Uh, we have a problem. The Babylonians are here, and they say they’re going to destroy the city. We could use a little help. Do you think you could put in a good word with God for me?”
“Sorry,” says Jeremiah. “You know the rules.” It seems cruel. But Zedekiah had his chance. God’s people had their chance. They took their chances. And they lost.
How about you? How bad will it have to get before you appeal to God? Don’t take your chances.

The Quiet Life

Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Over the course of our life together, my wife and I have known quite a number of people who have felt “called” either to the pastorate or the mission field. When they begin to make the transition into professional ministry, many of these people have expressed excitement about now being able to really serve God. The underlying assumption being that there are certain jobs that have greater Kingdom significance than others. For more than a few of the individuals or couples we’ve known, professional ministry hasn’t worked out. They’ve burned out, or dropped out of the training process for personal or financial reasons. For these acquaintances there’s been the suggestion that somehow they’ve failed. That settling into another career and an “ordinary” kind of life means settling for a second-rate calling.

In 1 Thessalonians 4 the Apostle Paul affirms the “ordinary” life as a legitimate - even preferable - Christian calling. He urges members of his church to see their jobs, families, and other commitments as a mission field. He tells them that an important part of ministering effectively is living effectively. Paul says, “Live a life that wins the respect of outsiders.” Live your life in such a way that the people around you take notice. So doing you will invite the question: “What’s your secret? How is it that you live out your commitments and pursue you work with such dedication? How is it that your relationships seem to work out right? That you continue to give your all to your job, year after year?” Let your quiet life be an invitation for others to encounter the Gospel at work.

Delayed Obedience is...

Passage: Jeremiah 17:19-27

As a parent to young children, I regularly have to play the disciplinarian. Several times a day I tell my kids what they have to do. When they balk or refuse, I tell them the consequences that will ensue should they continue to disobey. When that happens, I’m faced with the choice: do I give them another chance, or do I follow through? I’m generally inclined to give them another chance. But when I do, they begin to expect it from me. The next time I ask them to do something, they’re even less likely to do it. On the other hand, when I do follow through, they’re surprised and outraged. “How could you?” they seem to say (with fewer words and more tears). Once in awhile, when the opportunity for obedience has passed, and the consequence is being meted out, one of my children will say, “Wait, I want to obey!” And I say, “I’m sorry, but you missed your chance. The point was for you to obey right away.” Which, of course, is sad for them and me. It hurts to see them desperately trying to go back and do what they were supposed to do in the first place when they realize, too late, that there are consequences. The point wasn’t for them to accomplish the specific task (hanging up a coat; putting on their shoes; eating their dinner). It was for them to obey.

This is a dynamic that plays out continually in the relationship between God and his people. In Jeremiah 17 God gives his people an order. He says, “Keep the Sabbath Day holy. Don’t pursue any labor or commerce on the seventh day. Set it aside for me. I told your parents and grandparents to do this, but they wouldn’t listen. If you obey this command, you won’t suffer the consequences they did.” Now keeping the Sabbath seems like an arbitrary command. Why this one? Why doesn’t God say, “Make sure you don’t murder”? Or steal? Or cheat on your wife? Why the Sabbath? It makes it seem as though the Sabbath command is more important than the others.

We know, based on the rest of the story, that Gods’ people don’t obey this command. Jeremiah watches his people disregard God’s word and suffer the consequences.
But generations later we see God’s people going back to this one command, after the fact, and say, “Maybe if we obey it now God will reverse the terrible judgment we’ve experienced.” Centuries after they’ve been exiled and returned to their homeland, the children of Israel are a poor nation living under foreign occupation. And they are obsessively trying to keep this one commandment: “Don’t work on the Sabbath.” So much so that when God himself shows up in the flesh, and begins to travel and teach and heal on the Sabbath, they condemn him. “Don’t you know?” they say. “It’s because of this very thing that God sent our ancestors off to Babylon. It’s because we didn’t keep the Sabbath that we’ve suffered so much. Don’t mess it up for us!” To which Jesus, God in the flesh, responds, “You’re still missing the point.”

There was nothing more important about the Sabbath command than any of the other nine. Through Jeremiah God was simply giving his people one command. One simple command in the hopes that they would obey. This was a test of their obedience, which in turn was a test of the relationship God wanted so badly to have with them. It didn’t matter, at the end of the day, what God told them to do. God just wanted them to obey. They didn’t. All these generations later, they look back on that chance they’d had, and try desperately to recapture it. But it’s too late.

The Basic Principles of this World

Passage: Colossians 2:8-23

An older member of a church I served once told me about how much her late husband had looked down on members of her family of origin. In particular, she described how her husband, a college professor, would bait her brother with questions about their theology. Her brother, a farmer with a grade school education, would attempt to answer the questions based on what he remembered from sermons and Bible stories. Then her husband would rip his answers to shreds. She recalled, with tears in her eyes, the way her husband used theological savvy as a weapon to humiliate her brother in order to bolster his own sense of superiority.

More recently one of my best friends confided to me concern about his youngest sister’s latest vocational pursuit. His sister, a college dropout, had moved to the West Coast and enrolled in the “Power Plant”, a charismatic Christian academy that specializes in healing prayer, prophecy, and what she called “words of knowledge.” When she came home for Thanksgiving break, his sister said she’d received a “word of knowledge” that God was going to heal their mom’s cancer. Based on this, she insisted that her mother refuse the surgery and chemotherapy she was scheduled to undergo. When my friend and his family dismissed his sister’s urgings, she said, “You obviously don’t have the faith I do. God talks to me.”

It’s human nature to latch on to skills, abilities or social status markers that make us special. We all at some level want to be superior to someone or better at something. This is what the Apostle Paul talks about when he warns his church against “depending on the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” When it comes to religion, people’s human instincts lead them down two possible paths. The first is believing that one can acquire a level of secret or superior knowledge of the divine that puts them ahead. They’ll use special jargon to talk about God and the life of faith. They’ll make veiled references to certain skills or practices that you’d obviously only know about if you were part of the elite circle of “true believers.” This superior knowledge, they believe, gets them closer to God. Proponents of this approach to the faith invariably look down on those who know less than they do.

The second is believing that there is a set of rules that, if followed, will get you closer to God. Proponents of this approach shape their lives around certain disciplines, are harshly critical of anyone who doesn’t follow the rules as strictly or exhaustively as they do, and again think of themselves as belonging to an elite society.

Paul confronts and debunks both philosophies in Colossians 2. He says, “The only basis for a successful appeal to God is the blood of Jesus Christ.” He tells the members of his church that if they have embraced Jesus as Savior and Lord, no one can claim to be closer to God than they are. Paul says, “Don’t let someone else tell you your faith is worth less because you don’t know as much as them. Don’t let someone else debase your relationship with God because they follow more rules.”

In saying this, Paul also cautions members of his church against adopting an elitist view of their own faith. Your relationship with Jesus Christ doesn’t make you better than anyone else. It just makes you right with God. And your aim, should you mature in the faith or grow in knowledge of the things of God, must always be to share what you’ve learned. We’re all on the same playing field. Saved by grace. Servants of God. Growing in faith and knowledge. Together.

You Need a New Doctor

Passage: Jeremiah 5:30-31; 6:13-15

30 "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
13 "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD.

Early in his ministry Jeremiah experiences that which is common to all the prophets of God: resistance. No one wants to hear what Jeremiah has to say.
Which is too bad. In Jeremiah God is offering his people one last chance. He’s telling them that they have a serious problem that, if left unchecked, will kill them all. The problem is that Jeremiah isn’t the only prophet in Judah. It turns out that though the people of God have abandoned God, they haven’t stopped being religious. They still meet at the temple. They still pray. They still worship. And they still consult priests and prophets. It’s just that they attend a temple that is no longer inhabited by the one true God. They maintain rites and rituals that have been emptied of any connection to the living God. And they enlist prophets who are deaf to the voice of God. Their priests and prophets tell them only what they want to hear.

Jeremiah’s grating tone and condemning message stand in bitter relief to the religious candy floss his people have been consuming. Jeremiah’s people have lost their appetite for God; for God’s Word. So they spit it out as soon as they’re exposed to it. To their deadly detriment. The medicine of God’s Word is the only antidote to the infection that’s eating them from the inside. They don’t even realize they’re dying. Jeremiah laments the fact that the very people entrusted the task of administering life-giving triage to his dying people have given nothing but sweet anesthetic to numb the pain of their spiritual gangrene.

The cure is bitter and hard to take. But it is infinitely sweeter than the slow septic death Jeremiah sees his people dying.
God’s people are constantly faced with this choice: take the bitter remedy of repentance and reconciliation with God. Or listen to the voices that tell you you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like you. Listen to the voices that tell you that you can have God and keep living your life the way you always have. Keep going to the doctor that says, “No, that’s not cancer. It’s just a blemish that keeps growing. Let me prescribe you some cover-up.” The antidote seems painful until you face the alternative. If your doctor keeps telling you what you want to hear, you might want to look for a new one.

Deceived?

Passage: Jeremiah 4

I used to enjoy taking in the occasional episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I loved watching Vincent d’Onofrio’s character, Det. Gorem, use his unorthodox methods to get close to the suspects he was investigating. In one memorable episode, Gorem tracks down a man living a double life. At the climax of the film, Gorem corners the suspect (played by Lost’s Michael Emerson – a.k.a. Benjamin Linus), who is holding his children hostage in a hotel room. Gorem uses the rapport he’s developed with the suspect to give him the impression the two are friends. The suspect, obviously overwhelmed by the magnitude of the situation he’s created, allows Gorem to come close. It seems as though the detective is about to enfold the suspect in an embrace; but at the last second he instead snatches the man’s weapon and pins him to the ground. It’s the detective’s unexpected change in demeanor, and switch from confidante to captor that heightens the drama of the scene.

In Jeremiah 4 the prophet confronts God regarding a similar change in demeanor. He says to God,
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats."
You see, few verses earlier God has said to Jeremiah,
“If you will return, O Israel, return to me," declares the LORD. "If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory."
Jeremiah isn’t buying it. Sure, he believes that God would relent if his people changed their ways. But Jeremiah knows his people too well. He knows they’re not going to change. So he says, “God, why taunt me with this possibility? Why pretend that you’re here as our friend? I know how this is going to end. Not with peace.”

Jeremiah may well know how this chapter in the story of Israel and Judah will end. He will see his homeland invaded and his family and friends carted off as slaves. But this is only one chapter in a very long story.

God isn’t lying when he promises peace. God’s not lying when he promises redemption. And God isn’t playing games when he claims to be the friend of his people. God has promised from the start to save the world through the nation of Israel. And if you stick with the story you see that God does indeed make good his promise.

God keeps his promises. And God acts in the best interests of his people. Every chapter of their story is a chapter in the unfolding story of God’s plan of redemption for the world. If you are a child of God, then hang in there. God isn’t playing games with you. Your life is in his hands, and his every act serves the cause of your salvation. Don’t be deceived by your circumstances. Trust in him.

Passage: Jeremiah 1

We’re introduced to Jeremiah as the prophet who serves during the twilight years of the Kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah’s job, like Isaiah’s, is to tell his people the end is near. God commissions a reluctant Jeremiah, and gives him this assignment:
Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.
God obviously knows better than Jeremiah what the prophet is in for, because he goes on to say this:
Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you…
Don’t worry, says God. Your job is going to make you a pariah to your people. And everyone you prophesy against is going to hate you. They may even attack you. But I’ll be with you every step of the way.

At which point Jeremiah is tempted to interject: “Uh, Lord? It’s encouraging to know that you’ll be with me when the angry mobs are gathering and the government operatives are sharpening their shivs. But maybe you could give me a job that doesn’t involve ticking all those people off in the first place?”

One truth that’s borne out throughout the Old Testament is that being God’s prophet puts you in the line of fire. The prophets were never particularly popular. As Jeremiah’s story continues we see the different ways God steers him directly into the cross-hairs of friends, neighbors, and kings. Thank goodness God hasn’t called us to be prophets. Oh, wait…

In Chains

Passage: Philippians 1:12-26

The Book of Philippians is one of the most positive and encouraging letters of the New Testament. The consistent theme throughout the book seems to be, “Rejoice!” The author, Paul, repeatedly reminds members of his church how good they have it.
The great paradox of the book is that Paul is writing from prison. Moreover, Paul doesn’t know whether he will live another day as a free man. It’s possible (and assumed by many New Testament scholars) that this period of incarceration ends in Paul’s execution. Is Paul in denial?

Paul’s message in this setting is consistent with that which he has maintained for his entire ministry: life is good because he belongs to Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if he’s surrounded by friends or fellow inmates. It doesn’t matter whether he’s being attended by angels or prison guards. The basic condition of his life hasn’t changed: saved by grace. Redeemed for a purpose.
It is in respect to the latter that Paul not only considers his circumstances tolerable. He describes them as providential. Paul actually celebrates that he is in prison. As the book progresses, there are two reasons for this. The first is that Paul’s incarceration has introduced him to a whole new mission field. Paul doesn’t waste the opportunity to share the Gospel with other prisoners, and even the prison’s guards and wardens. Many have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. The second is that Paul’s suffering has added a new dimension to his kinship with Jesus. Jesus suffered unjust imprisonment and death for Paul and the rest of the world’s sinners. In a profound way Paul’s own experience has heightened his sense of connection to his Savior.

It takes immense faith to see difficult circumstances not only as trials to be endured, but as opportunities. Opportunities to introduce others to the Savior; and opportunities to be drawn deeper into our relationship with him.